Many reasons to buy an Accord, and a few not to (reviews four and V6)

For whatever reason, Honda alternates when designing each new generation of Accord. One generation will be conventional as can be, then the next will actually be worth looking at, then it’ll be back to conventional. After five years with an Accord that looks like any second grader’s sketch of a generic car, it’s time for one that’s worth looking at. And it seems we got one. At the same time, Honda claims that they’re going after people who would otherwise be defecting to the VW Passat. (The hyperlinks lead to my reviews of related vehicles.) So this one is supposed to be more exciting to drive as well, if Honda’s PR blitz is to be believed. The proof is in the test drive, so off I went.

Honda Accord Reliability

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Styling

Actually, it took so long for Epinions to list this car that I’ve driven two 2003 Accords: an EX V6 automatic sedan and an LX four-cylinder manual coupe. This review focuses on the former, though I will draw on my experience with the latter to comment on the LX trim, four-cylinder engine, and manual transmission. For my review of the coupe, click here.

The Accord sedan is a mix and match of the Lexus IS 300 and various European sedans, some of which are not available in the United States. Interestingly, it shares a prominent character line rising from the front wheel opening and angles back triangular front headlamps not only with that Lexus but with a direct competitor, the Nissan Altima. Since the Altima was not out when this car was being designed, and I doubt Honda would have knowingly copies a key element from one of Nissan’s products, it seems that both design teams did the same thing because they both knocked off the same original. Serves them both right.

Aside from these two key design elements, the Honda does borrow from enough French and Italian sedans that it has a very different overall character from the Lexus, the Nissan, or the Passat (which has also subtly influenced the design of both the Altima and Accord). It is, in a word, more voluptuous than the crisply tailored Nissan. The bodysides are fuller, and while the Altima certainly also has a large rear end the Accord draws on a wide C-pillar to add visual heaviness to its derriere. This fuller body makes the Accord look less sporty but considerably more elegant than the Altima. That Honda forewent trendy clear taillamps reinforces this general direction.

I have found that many people dislike the rear half of this car, and especially the rear pillars—which make the rear end look stubby—and rear lamps—which resemble those of the late Buick Skylark. I’m not terribly fond of the lamps, but am happy to see Honda taking risks. The parts might not be unique, but the whole is distinctive.

Once upon a time Hondas were some of the few cars that actually looked okay with smallish steel wheels. Those days are long gone, and with this design they are deeply buried. Tall, full bodysides like these require large wheels styled to look even larger to look good. If the wheels are too small, the car will look fat and bulky. So it’s a good thing that the 16” alloys standard on the EX, with seven spokes styled to accentuate their diameter, serve the car’s styling well. Larger wheels are available as a dealer-installed accessory, but these are fine. For those who buy one of the trims with 15” wheelcovers…if you care about how the car looks you’ll want to upgrade.

One interesting element that Honda’s body engineers surely spent many hours on, but that few people will notice, is the complex curvature along the top of the front fender. Heck, I only noticed because I saw this detail discussed in some of that Honda PR. The fender top goes from convex to concave going forward from the pillar. Quite hard to execute in steel, and interesting to both look at and think about. So what if few people notice on their own (though they are somewhat more likely to note the general seamlessness of the design that this element contributes to). Some engineers somewhere are mighty proud of their accomplishment, and I can’t blame them. Hopefully they also put this kind of effort into the things that really matter.

The coupe and sedan are styled the same inside. In the EX sedan the interior seemed rich and luxurious. The materials are certainly all of high quality, like the Toyota Camry but unlike the Altima. The various knobs and buttons all have a slick, cushy, refined feel to them. However, when I drove the coupe immediately after driving a Camry SE the interior didn’t seem so rich. My first thought was that my first impression was mistaken. But then I realized what the problem was. The EX includes “premium interior accents” that the coupe I drove did not have. You might want to check me on this, but I believe this refers to the EX’s titanium-colored trim on the center console and door armrests. In the DX and LX this trim is black plastic, which looks less rich, in a black cloth interior simply results in too much black, and detracts from the ambiance of the interior as a whole. (It might not be as much an issue with the gray and tan interiors.) This metallic trim is trendy, and a number of cars now overuse it (the 2003 Altima among them), but it works well here.

In general this is your typical Honda interior, rationally laid out and tastefully executed. Nothing much to offend anyone. That said, there were a couple of details I didn’t care for. The first involved the upside-down pentagon shape of the controls in the center stack. I’ve seen this in Mazdas before, and didn’t care for the look there either. It just seems pointlessly quirky to me, a strange thing to have in a Honda interior. I guess this was Honda’s way of escaping a vanilla image?

My second complaint involves the instruments. These are always lit, and in fact light up in stages when you first get in the car. In this manner they resemble the fancy gauges that got everyone excited in the first big Lexus back in 1989. No problems here, even if the novelty is long gone. No, my problem is that big gauges are generally a good idea, but at some point they become too big. The speedometer here has gone well past that point. It’s flat out huge. While this might contribute to visibility, I’ve got to wonder how much they thought this trough. First, the size of the face and of the numerals around its perimeter are just too intrusive. Yes, Mercedes also uses large speedometers with its latest instrument clusters, but I hate them there, too. Second, the thing’s numbered up to 160, so at most half of that huge face will ever be used. How is an Accord ever going to get anywhere near 160? Now I know some auto makers put big unattainable numbers on their speedometers because they know that the possibility this implies excites some potential customers (after all, the Altima’s speedometer also goes to 160), but I thought Honda’s function-first philosophy rejected such nonsense. I’d rather have a smaller speedometer with fewer numbers on it. Better yet, fewer numbers, and smaller numbers so the whole thing can be considerably smaller. You know, only large instead of huge. Those who can’t easily read a speedometer 75% the size of this one shouldn’t be driving.

Accommodations

The front seats fit well with the character of the car. The are moderately firm and provide good support. In leather they feel a bit plusher, thought this might just be the psychological effect of the leather rather than any change in the padding. The side bolsters are modestly sized, but provide enough lateral support for moderately aggressive driving. In hard driving there’s not quite enough bolstering, but even the coupe I drove didn’t ask to be driven this way.

The driving position is a touch better in the sedan than in the coupe because you sit a little higher. But even in the coupe there is plenty of glass in the Honda fashion, so that visibility is very good forward, and fairly good in other directions. The cowl (base of the windshield) isn’t nearly as low as it used to be in past Accords, but its upward creep over the years has only taken it from extremely low to average. The rear pillars are a touch wide with the sedan, but this is fairly common. They’re certainly not a major issue. A standard tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel should enable everyone to find the perfect relationship to all of the major controls. If you want a seat that tilts you need a V6 model and/or leather. Other models have either a manual or power height adjustment, but I can’t imagine that many people will want the seat much if any higher than its base setting.

The rear seat, despite the competitive stats, is not as good as those in the Camry and Altima. It’s a bit too low to provide thigh support for someone of my very average size, and legroom isn’t quite as generous as in the other two cars. It’s a good seat for two adults, but the other two cars have great rear seats.

The other two sedans also have larger trunks than that of the Accord. Still, the Accord’s trunk is certainly decently sized. It can be expanded by folding down the rear seat. Unlike in most other sedans with this function, in the Accord this seat is not split—you have to fold the whole thing down in one piece. The opening is fairly tall, unlike that in the Camry, but extends only about two-thirds the width of the trunk. If the opening must be reduced in one dimension for body strength reasons, this is the way to go at least. LX and EX sedans also have a smaller pass through for skis and such in the center armrest hole.

On the Road

What I’d really like to see is a V6-manual combination in the sedan. Unfortunately, this combination is only offered in the coupe. So I drove the four with a manual and the six with an automatic.

Both engines impressed me with their smoothness and power for their type of engine. Even at full throttle neither is loud. The six is even downright quiet. Magazine test results bear this out: the six at full throttle never makes more noise than many cars do when cruising. The muffled sound that does exist sounds quite rich, more luxurious but less sporty than the good sounds made by Nissan’s six. Honda's engineers may have done their job here too well. I suspect many people will wish the engine were a bit louder.

The four is very smooth and quiet for a four, but the sounds are still those of a four, so I’d still rather have a six even though the four's 160 horsepower is about as much as this car needs with a manual. After all, a decade ago the Nissan Maxima was regarded as a leading sport sedan with 160 horsepower. Those less picky about how the engine sounds will likely be plenty satisfied by the four.

The manual transmission is the usual pedestrian Honda unit, low in effort and moderate of throw. A good shifter, though I hope the six-speed in the top line coupe will have the firmer, shorter throws typical of Honda’s performance cars.

Acceleration with the V6 is astounding. Could this be a sign that the end of the world is near? This is still an Accord, after all. In the early 1980s when Accords first became popular they got by on a below-average 75 horsepower. Back then I would never have imagined that one would someday be among the quickest sedans you can buy. Power simply was not what the Accord was about. Not till 1995 did Honda cave to consumer demand and offer a V6 engine at all. That engine added a lot of weight and produced "only" 170 horsepower (just ten more than the 2003's base four cylinder), so it increased refinement more than acceleration. And refinement is what the Accord has always been about. Acceleration got some attention when the Accord was redesigned for 1998. A new 200-horsepower 3.0 liter six was developed for that car.

For the 2003 redesign Honda has totally caved to consumers' interest in horsepower. Its world class powertrain engineers have managed to match the 240 horsepower of last year’s Altima V6 with half a liter less displacement--the six remains a 3.0. (Unlike Nissan, Honda plans to continue offering slightly larger engines in its premium brand cars.) Since less displacement means less torque, the way this must be done is by maintaining this lower torque output to a higher RPM. Still, the engine isn’t too much peakier than the Nissan unit, with the power peak occurring 450 RPM higher. The super smooth, well-geared five-speed automatic helps here. The extra gear vs. the Altima (and Camry for that matter) is used to get the engine up to its powerband quicker, such that the Accord is at least as quick as the Altima V6 when the latter is teamed with an automatic. Another sign this engine isn’t too peaky: it always felt plenty strong, as if however much power I needed was just a slight tip of throttle away.

This engine becomes even more amazing when you consider its fuel economy. It manages to get slightly higher EPA ratings than either the Altima or Camry, and the latter has nearly fifty fewer horsepower. And then here’s the kicker: the Accord is the only one of the three designed to run on regular gas.

All of this praise notwithstanding, I suspect that many people would be very satisfied with just the four even in the EX. It’s a very good four, and I encourage most people who think they need the six to at least give it a try.

Honda claims to have developed the new Accord to appeal to drivers, but it’s still not quite what I’d call a sports sedan. The steering and general handling are more luxury car fluid than sharp. Lean in turns is greater than that in either the Camry SE or Altima SE, and those are hardly hard-edged sport sedans themselves. That said, the Accord handled everything I threw at it without complaint. Though it wasn’t exactly happy, it wasn’t unhappy either. It was composed. In this way it reminded me of the Lexus LS: competent when thrown hard into a curve, but certainly not asking to be thrown into a curve, and generally tuned for smooth cruising. In general, the chassis reinforced the impression of the V6 that this is a luxury car nearly equal in refinement to much more expensive sedans.

The ride in the EX sedan was very smooth and very quiet, at least equal to the Camry SE and much superior to the Altima in these areas. The LX coupe was just a bit noisier and rougher—these evaluations being very relative. The Accord and Camry together stand distinctly apart from other family sedans in their near luxury car ride quality. The VW Passat comes closest, but somehow manages to both lean more in turns and ride more firmly.

Pricing

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Last Words

The redesigned Accord impresses in many areas, most notably power and refinement. The new styling is certainly an improvement as well. While not as striking as the Altima, it is certainly more distinctive than the Camry while lending the car an elegance usually only found in luxury sedans. It’s still not a driver’s car, but despite the hype I don’t think it’s meant to be one. It is meant to be a very comfortable, relaxing car, and here it clearly succeeds. Throw in the relatively low price and even the EX V6 seems a great value.

I encourage Honda to make a true sports version of the Accord sedan, as they seem to be doing with the coupe. But I can also understand if they leave that role to the next Acura TL. (Which sadly will be more expensive.) After all, a performance version of the new Accord would eliminate much of the Acura's reason for being.

Update: For 2004 the Camry SE gets a 3.3-liter six, five-speed automatic, and more standard equipment. The latter plus more aggressive dealer discounting makes the Accord now the more expensive car, tilting the advantage back in the Camry's favor. My review of the 2004 SE V6 can be read here.

For 2004 Chevrolet is introducing a thoroughly redesigned Malibu that comes much closer to matching the Accord and Camry. For my review click here.

Finally, Mitsubishi has enlarged the Galant for 2004, making it more competitive than before (though I still do not recommend it). My review can be read here.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, or to perform thorough up-to-date new car price comparisons, visit www.truedelta.com. A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.